Secretary of State's Office wants out of election lawsuit

The Secretary of State's Office today in a news release said it has violated no laws and seeks to be dismissed from Houston, Texas-based True the Vote's suit over access to records from the June 24 runoff.

The Secretary of State's Office today in a news release said it has violated no laws and seeks to be dismissed from Houston, Texas-based True the Vote's suit over access to records from the June 24 runoff. The office said it will follow scrupulously Mississippi's election laws.

The rest of the release:

In the event the Secretary of State’s Office is made aware of any person voting in both a Democratic Primary and a Republican primary, those individuals’ names will be forwarded to the District Attorney and Attorney General for whatever prosecutorial action they deem appropriate.

The Secretary of State’s Office possesses no poll books from either the June 3rd Primary Election or the June 24th Primary Runoff Election. We support full disclosure of pollbooks to the public in accordance with Mississippi law.

The Secretary of State’s Office has committed no violation of the National Voter Registration Act and will not. This Agency followed federal and state law in implementing Voter ID and will continue to follow all voting laws.

The Secretary of State’s Office requested a change in the law to require our Agency to report on Mississippi elections to the public and Legislature. As required by the State Legislature, this Office issues Election Day Reports for all elections in Mississippi. The public should anticipate a report for the June 24th Primary Runoff Election.

Party Primary Elections are the responsibility of the Party, not the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State’s Office does not certify primary election results. The Secretary of State only receives certified results from the party in order to prepare the General Election ballot.